Falana Explains Why Naira Redesign May Be Illegal

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN has said that the redesigned naira notes unveiled by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN may be declared illegal if it gets to court.

Recall that on November 23, 2022, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, even though the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed accused Emefiele of not consulting her office prior to the announcement.

The redesigned notes, according to the CBN, is in line with section 18 of the Central Bank Act which gives the financial regulator the power to print notes and mint coins.

But in a statement on Sunday, Falana argued that for naira to be redesigned, it must pass through the National Assembly in form of a bill.

The statement partly reads, ” However, the official endorsement is not sufficient as the President is mandatorily required to present a Money Bill to the National Assembly for the withdrawal of the billions of Naira from public fund earmarked for the printing of the new Naira notes.

“Specifically, section 59 of the Constitution requires “an appropriation bill or supplementary bill including any other bill for the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation of any money charged thereon or any alteration in the amount of such payment, issue or withdrawal…

“Since the fund for the printing of the new Naira notes is not captured in the 2022 Appropriation Bill the President is advised to prepare and present a supplementary bill to the National Assembly to authorize the withdrawal of public funds from any Account of the Federation for printing the new Naira notes.

“Otherwise, the printing of the new Naira without appropriation by the National Assembly may be declared illegal and unconstitutional if it is challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction.”